


from the end to...

by Labyrinthinee



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Alex is a very emotional person, Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Reggie is his usual weird self, but also completely made up so whatever, i guess this is, tagging just to be safe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:41:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26882332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Labyrinthinee/pseuds/Labyrinthinee
Summary: Luke looked back. The ambulance kept getting smaller and smaller. The noise of the sirens echoing slower and slower.He looked at Reggie on his left, still a smudge of mustard on his cheek and Alex on his right, pale as a sheet.Then everything went dark.
Relationships: Alex & Luke Patterson & Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms)
Comments: 22
Kudos: 164





	from the end to...

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first take on the wonderful, cheesy show that is Julie and the Phantoms.  
> So, I wanted to know what our boys did in those 25 years and decided to fill it with my own personal head canons as to what happened in those years to everybody involved in 1995.
> 
> I have not posted anything in ages but couldn't help myself with this. It bascially wrote itself!  
> This has not been prove read and all mistakes are mine :)
> 
> kudos and comments are, of course, greatly appreciated!  
> Love,  
> xx.

## from the end to...

  


#### 1995

  


Luke looked back. The ambulance kept getting smaller and smaller. The noise of the sirens echoing slower and slower.

He looked at Reggie on his left, still a smudge of mustard on his cheek and Alex on his right, pale as a sheet.

Then everything went dark.

It took him a moment to realize what had happened. They had died. From street dogs.

“He just had to jinx it”, Luke breathed out.

“Oh, come on, man, you can’t honestly blame me for that!” Reggie’s voice came from his left, clear as day.

“Reggie?” He asked unnecessarily, extending his arms.

Then, he stepped on something. “Hey, watch out!”

“Alex?”

Luke grabbed onto somebody’s shoulder. “You’re here”, he stated the obvious.

Now, this, he didn’t get. They were dead. From street dogs. But, like, was this heaven? He stopped. Or hell? Letting out a breath, he slowly started walking.

“Hey, man, where are you going?” Alex quickly grabbed his hand.

“Yeah, this doesn’t seem like a good idea.” Reggie grabbed his other. “Are we like… dead?”

“Told you, you jinxed it”, Luke huffed.

Reggie seemed to want to protest but Alex answered before he could. “I don’t feel dead”, the drummer stated.

“Definitely doesn’t feel like living though”, Reggie said and then Alex started crying.

  


#### 1996

  


Rose stared. “Are you serious?”

She slowly let her fingers wander over the piano, letting the melody fill the silence between them.

“They would’ve wanted their music to get out there, be heard by other people!” Bobby said and handed her a sheet of paper. “It’s almost finished. A few tweaks here and there and it’ll be a hit, I’m sure of it, Luke was sure of it and those record exec’s would’ve thought so as well.”

Rose hesitantly took the song, carefully reading it.

She remembered them well, their presence on stage, their energy and enthusiasm. Quietly she hummed the melody while Bobby waited patiently for her to decide.

That evening six months a lot of things had changed. He had lost his band, they had spent the night on her couch, talking and in the morning he had disappeared.

Until he had showed up on her doorstep fifteen minutes ago with a proposal she wasn’t sure about.

“It’s good”, she finally said.

Bobby nodded. “It’s great! And it’ll be even better when we work on it together!”

“I don’t know…”

“Oh, come on, Rose, you said it yourself, we were a great band, we could’ve been legendary but they… well, things happened.” Bobby drifted off.

It had been a rough couple of months. He had attended all their funerals, had seen Luke’s parents devastated over their loss, had seen Alex’s sister being the only family member at his grave and Reggie’s parents breaking over losing their second son. It had been hard, being the only one left.

He hadn’t entered the garage for months now. Until the bills from the house started stacking up and he decided to sell a few things. He stumbled over one of Luke’s notebooks by accident and if he had learnt anything after that night, it was, that if an opportunity ever presented itself, you took it.

“You and I, _we_ can make them be remembered.”

Rose looked up from the song. He could still see the doubt in her eyes but he could also see that sparkle he had seen that night. She believed in them, in Sunset Curve and even though the band was no more, she’d help them; help him.

  


#### 1997

  


“Seriously, Alex, crying won’t change a thing!” Luke said for the umpteenth time.

“Oh… shut up! Like we’ve… got anything better… to do.”

Hiccups were interrupting him and Alex sniffled loudly.

“We could play a game!” Reggie suggested for what had to be the hundredth time and both Alex and Luke groaned.

“I swear to god, if you say ‘I spy with my little eye’ again, I am going to kill you”, Alex warned the bassist.

“Well, you’re too late for that, right?”, grinned Reggie, “I spy with my little eye something black.”

Luke ignored him. “What do you think our parents will say when they find out about this?”

“Way to kill the mood, dude.” For a moment it was dead quiet then Reggie laughed at his own joke.

“Mine won’t mind. I’ve been dead to them for almost two years now.”

Alex tried his hardest to sound nonchalant but his bandmates knew him well enough and Luke carefully placed a hand on his shoulders.

“I always thought that if I died, Jason would wait for me but… well… haven’t seen him, yet.” Reggie shrugged next to Luke.

The lead singer himself frowned, playing with the strings of his hoodie.

“Your mum knows, that you didn’t mean it.”

Alex’ words were almost inaudible.

Luke sighed. “I never told her, though. I left them thinking I hated them.”

“Maybe Bobby will show her the song. She’ll have to know after that, right?”

Reggie sounded sure of himself and Luke wanted to believe him. What else was there to do?

“You guys still haven’t figured out my hint? I spy with my little eye something that is-“

“I swear to god, Reginald, shut up!” Luke yelled.

Alex started sniffling again.

  


#### 1998

  


Rose stormed into the garage. Bobby looked up from his guitar.

“That wasn’t the deal”, she yelled, throwing the CD at him. It landed in front of his feet. His own face stared up at him.

“Woah, hey, careful!”

“Trevor Wilson?! Are you serious?” She was poking her finger into his chest. “You never even mentioned them!”

Bobby shrugged. “It… it didn’t come up.”

“It didn’t come up?!” She ran her fingers through her black curls. Rose dropped her voice a little bit and pouted. “Hey Madeline, by the way, all those songs you love, they are from my former band mate Luke. How about that?”

“I don’t sound like that.”

He crossed his arms, standing up and stepping out of reach from her hands who seemed a little too close to his neck for his comfort.

“Seriously? I didn’t think you could be that much of an asshole! And you made me an accomplice!”, she added even more furious.

“I know and I am sorry but… can you let me explain now?”

Rose stared at him, squinting her eyes. Then she breathed out heavily, before sinking down into the couch.

“This better be good.”

“I showed them the songs, they loved them. They asked me where I got them from and I wanted to tell them about the guys but… but they’re dead, you know. You and I, we are here and you are getting a share of all sales! No more trying to make rent, no more trying to get well-paid gigs. Rose, this is what we have both been working for! Look, there is your name.”

He picked the CD up. Next to Trevor Wilson stood Dalia Millner, her alias.

She stared at him for a very long time.

“I still don’t like it”, she finally breathed out.

Bobby sighed. He carefully put his arm around her shoulders. “Neither do I but at least now, their music lives on and isn’t that something good?”

Rose smiled. “I guess, you’re right.”

  


#### 1999

  


Luke slapped Reggie’s hands hard. “Ha, won again!”

“I don’t like this game anymore”, Reggie pouted.

They had been playing it for a while now. Luke hadn’t been the biggest fan from the beginning but at least, it kept Reggie from trying to play ‘I spy with my little eye’. Alex was once again hugging his knees to his chest behind them, every now and then a shudder running through his spine.

“Hey, Alex, any game suggestions?”

Luke turned around to his bandmate, trying to get him to open up a little bit but Alex refused to show any signs of actually listening. It was still pitch black around them, so without seeing the drummer there was no real way to tell if he was paying attention.

Reggie started humming the Star Wars theme like he always did whenever he was bored and Luke decided to work on some lyrics. Which was a lot harder when he wasn’t able to write them down but there was nothing, he could do about it.

They still weren’t sure where they were exactly. They were pretty sure that this neither heaven nor hell which left them somewhere in between.

It had actually been Reggie’s idea, that maybe they were ghosts. It seemed like the most plausible answer, though it still didn’t explain what they were doing here, in utter darkness, just the three of them.

“I miss playing my bass”, Reggie sighed then.

Luke couldn’t help but agree. What would he give to have his six string with him right now! Being dead would be so much easier if they had their instruments with them. He definitely got the Egyptians now.

  


#### 2000

  


“You’re selling the house?” Rose was speechless.

“Well, I haven’t lived there for almost a year, so… I don’t really see what I would get from keeping it.” Bobby ran his fingers through his hair. It had gotten really long now. He should definitely ask his stylist if they could shorten it a little bit more next time.

Rose was shaking her head. “You lived here with your band, remember? Three cute guys, all very talented?”

Bobby frowned. He didn’t like it when she reminded him of where his success came from. After all, it had been him who had been working hard the last two years, recording and touring and doing interviews.

“They’d understand”, he deflected and Rose simply raised her eyebrows.

She took another sip of her tea, while Bobby played around on the sound board. They had met at the studio to work on some new songs together. Rose was almost as good as Luke when it came to writing and Bobby trusted her abilities more than anybody else’s.

He also didn’t have to hide that he had no clue how writing a song actually worked with her, which was definitely a bonus.

Suddenly a smile spread on her lips and Bobby stopped. He didn’t really trust that look. It had gotten him into the photoshoot with that white tiger. The three angry red scars reminded him not to trust that smile on a daily basis.

“Did you get any offers, yet? For the house, I mean?”

Bobby shook his head slowly.

“Good, then here is mine.” She took a post-it note and wrote a number on it.

He agreed without even unfolding the paper.

  


#### 2001

  


It was strange, not really feeling anything.

They didn’t seem to need food or water. Didn’t need to pee or sleep. They simply existed. Or not, according to Alex.

He had never been able to adapt very quickly. Him still crying was a testament to that.

Luke hummed ‘My name is Luke’ under his breath, the first song he had ever written and Reggie interrupted him mid-chorus by pushing his hand into his face.

“Hey!” Luke protested.

“Oh sorry, wanted to get your shoulder”, Reggie quickly apologized, then changed the subject, “hey, do you know that I never actually wanted to audition?”

Luke stopped and even Alex turned around.

“What?”

“Yeah, I saw your flyer in my school and planned on going but then, I basically got cold feet. I was hiding away in my room and then, the strangest thing happened. I found a flyer that somehow must’ve ended up in my bag. And Jason, well, he always wanted to join a band, so I thought, what the hell and decided to go.”

“Maybe your brother but the flyer in your school bag”, Luke suggested, “I mean, he could be a ghost, too, you know.”

Alex huffed. “Even if he was a ghost, there’s no way, to tell if…”

“Shut up, Alex!” Luke hissed.

“I believe in it. Have always believed in it. So, thank my ghost brother Jason for the best bassist in town!” Reggie grinned.

“Can’t deny that!”

Luke clapped his hand on Reggie’s shoulder and they both laughed.

“Thank god for ghost brothers”, amended Alex.

“And bigger sisters”, reminded Luke them.

He remembered Alex showing up to their first rehearsal with his bigger sister who practically forced them on him. She stayed that first session. After that she had to drag him home every time.

  


#### 2002

  


“Take a picture it’ll last longer”, Rose said cheekily.

The guy took a step back, a caught look on his face. Smiling bashfully, he raised his hands apologetically.

“I’m really sorry, I just… couldn’t help myself.”

Rose wiped down the bar, checking him out. He was definitely cute with those dimples and those greenish eyes. There was a bulky bag on the chair next to him and she’d be lying if she wasn’t curious about what was in there.

“You here for the show?” She asked then.

Ever since Bobby’s career had picked up, she didn’t actually need to work at the clubs anymore. Writing songs finally paid off but she just loved watching young, upcoming artists on the stages of the Los Angeles club scene.

He nodded. “I’m a photographer for the Rolling Stone.”

She whistled through her teeth. “So, you _are_ taking pictures?”

Grinning, he opened his bag, showing her his camera. Rose leaned on the bar. Apart from the band setting up for their sound check there was no one around.

“But only from those guys.” He pointed towards the stage.

“A pity.”

“Oh, definitely.”

She felt her heart skip a beat and slowly she brought some distance between herself and the stranger.

“I’m Ray, by the way”, he introduced himself.

“Rose.”

They were both quiet for a long while. She placed a coke in front of him and he watched her prepare the bar for the concert tonight. After a while she heard the shutter of the camera and looked up.

“I like your brooch”, he said, completely catching her off-guard.

Rose smiled. “It’s a dahlia, my favorites.”

Ray grinned before putting down his camera.

“I thought you only photographed the band tonight", Rose challenged then, leaning forward.

He shrugged. “Found something more interesting.”

  


#### 2003

  


“Damn, I miss cookies…” - “I miss chocolate…” - “and peanut-butter…” - “and pizza…” - “oh, meatball subs…” - “or, or cheeseburgers…” - “and hot dogs…”

“Okay, that’s enough!” Alex interrupted them forcefully and Luke stared into the darkness where he assumed his friend was sitting close-by.

“What do you miss, Alex?” he asked then.

A small sigh, before Alex answered, “The sun, mostly, my drums and my sister.”

“I miss the beach and my mum’s spaghetti and that dog from down the street, you know, from Mr. Hung?”

Luke nodded while Alex hummed.

“I miss my guitar and playing with you guys on stage and I miss my parents”, he admitted.

They were silent for a long while and for the first time since they had arrived here, Luke felt tears prickling inside his eyes. Even Reggie seemed to have to swallow down a few of them and Alex had started crying a little more freely this time.

  


#### 2004

  


Ray opened the door for them. “Welcome home”, he said quietly.

Rose entered the house, holding a little bundle in her arms. “Welcome home, mi hija”, she whispered and kissed the little baby’s head.

Their quiet moment was disrupted by her sister storming towards them, excited to finally see her niece and hold and kiss her.

Ray put an arm around his wife, watching his sister-in-law cooing at their beautiful daughter and his heart felt full. Rose laid her head against his shoulder, feeling tired but so, so happy. She couldn’t believe her luck.

Here she was, in her own house with her wonderful husband and a healthy daughter, a room filled with music right next to them in a garage that held the ghosts of a talented group of people.

Later that day, Bobby visited them. Just a few weeks ago, his wife had given birth to a daughter as well and both, him and Rose, were sure that those two would grow up to be best of friends. After all, their parents’ lives were too intertwined to let them be anything else.

Bobby looked at the little girl, seeing her mother in every feature and congratulated the new parents on a job well done.

Before leaving, Rose handed him the new song she had finished just before going into labor. He flew over it, a smile spreading on his lips.

“Like always, absolutely fantastic!” He complimented her.

“It’s about her”, she said and Bobby’s smile grew.

“I get it.” And he did. There were two little girls now who meant the world. They’d do anything to do right by them.

  


#### 2005

  


“What do you think Bobby is doing right now?” asked Luke.

“Probably freaking out because we are not showing up for our gig.”

“Nah, he was way too busy flirting with that girl”, disagreed Alex.

“You think, he has a shot with her?”

Luke had never understood Reggie’s and Bobby’s need to flirt with every pretty girl that looked their way. Sure, there had been one or two that had caught his eye, especially when they were interested in his music but he had realized pretty quickly that nobody really got what writing and playing music actually felt like to him.

He always poured a piece of his heart and soul into it and if people didn’t get that, didn’t see that, they weren’t worthy of his time.

“No way, she was way too pretty.” Alex eased Reggie’s mind.

“Yeah, you’re right”, Reggie sighed. “You think, we’ll meet some cute ghost girls around here somewhere? Or ghost boys?”, he added quickly, “There will definitely be some cute ghost boys as well. For sure.”

Luke grinned and he swore, he even heard Alex laugh a little.

  


#### 2006

  


Just like Ray had predicted Julie started singing before she started speaking. She was so much like her mother, headstrong, cheerful and always trying to entertain them. There were countless videos and pictures of her watching her mother play the piano, playing herself, well more or less just pawing at the keys but still, it was something.

Rose’s music had been their secret superpower from the beginning.

Whenever Julie was crying, they’d sing her a song or play her some music. It’d sooth her, make her fall asleep or smile.

Rose and Julie were frequent guests at Bobby’s house. His wife had left him shortly after Carrie’s first birthday and he was glad when Rose was there to help him with everything. His career, his daughter, his music.

Julie and Carrie were almost like twins. They started crawling at the same time, said their first words in a span of minutes and when they both started walking shortly after one another Rose and Bobby had their hands full. When one was crying, so was the other and as soon as one started laughing, the other would join.

Rose loved watching them play together while her and Bobby were working on the melodies to their songs.

Bobby stopped going on tour that much, instead spending more time at home with his daughter. Rose definitely approved of that. That little girl needed her daddy, especially after her mum just left her all alone.

  


#### 2007

  


“Don't look down,  
'cause we're still rising,  
up right now  
and even if we hit the ground,  
we'll still fly.  
Keep dreaming like we'll live forever  
but live it like it's now or never” sang Luke quietly.

“That line just hits differently now.”

Reggie was lying on his back, at least that was what he had told them. He had been trying to go to sleep but to no avail. None of them really felt tired.

Alex laughed bitterly. “That entire song seems like a big fat joke now.”

“Hey!” Luke protested.

“What? It’s true, right?”

“Still, it’s a great song! No need to be so bitter.”

“We are dead, dude!” Alex yelled, jumping to his feet. He started walking up and down, at least that was what it sounded like to Luke.

“Thanks, Captain Obvious!”, exclaimed Reggie and then whispered to Luke, “and then he says, I am the annoying one.”

Luke had to bite back a smile, lightly hitting Reggie against his chest before turning back to Alex.

“Alex, please calm down, this won’t change anything.”

The footsteps stopped. “Well, sitting around for the last half hour hasn’t really helped anything either, has it?”

“Half an hour?”, shrieked Reggie, “we’ve only been here for half an hour? Felt like so much longer.”

Alex ignored him. “Dude, we are dead. We might as well accept it and stop pretending like we’ll come back as ghosts. This’ll be it for the rest of eternity.” His voice broke and Luke wanted to reach out, but his fingers found nothing but air.

“That’s very dark”, commented Reggie and while Luke groaned, they could hear Alex had started crying again.

  


#### 2008

  


Julie strutted into the studio. The jean jacket she was wearing was way too big for her, almost touching her toes. She twirled, her dark curls flying around her face.

Her mum was sitting at the piano, concentrating on something in front of her.

Julie cleared her throat. “Ladies and gentlemens, are you ready for a show?”

She extended her arms like Uncle Trevor always did in his videos on TV and waited for her mother’s reaction.

Rose sighed, putting down the pencil and smiled at her daughter.

“Did you raid my closet again, cariña?” She asked.

Julie nodded proudly. “Do you like it?”

Rose chuckled, making her daughter twirl for her. “Love it!”

“Now, are you ready for my show?” Julie asked eagerly. After Rose had nodded, she stepped onto the big rug in the middle of the room and started singing the song they had learnt in kindergarten today.

Rose watched her daughter, watched the little human being she had created and had to hold back tears. As Julie took a deep bow, Rose clapped, secretly wiping her tears away.

“Where’s the encore?” She asked then and Julie frowned.

“What’s an encore?”

“It’s when they love your songs so much, they don’t want you to stop.”

Julie beamed. “Can I sing my next song with you?”

The little girl climbed onto the chair next to her mum’s. She placed her fingers on the two keys she would have to press for her favorite song. Rose gently started playing and when Julie was in the rhythm of hitting her keys at the right time, they began to sing.

Singing with Julie was so different than with everybody else. The little girl brought a joy and enthusiasm for music with her, she had only seen once before. And then she had only gotten a short glimpse of it.

Now, she could watch Julie grow into her passion for music every day, could help form her and Rose knew that that little girl was the best song she had created so far.

  


#### 2009

  


“But, like, do you think that Han Solo and Leia will be like… a thing?” Reggie asked and Luke shrugged.

They had started discussing the Star Wars movie a little while ago as they were slowly running out of topics to talk about.

“I don’t know. Do you think they’ll even make a second part?” Alex dared to ask.

Reggie gasped incredulous. “Of course, they will!”

“But, will you even be able to see it?”

Luke could make out Alex’ teasing in his voice but Reggie got outraged.

“I will watch it. Most definitely!”

Reggie had forced them all to see the first one with him in the theater at least once. Luke even went there twice and he was sure that Reggie must’ve seen that movie no less than seven times. It was ridiculous and he didn’t really get the bassist’s obsession with it.

“And just imagine how good the second movie will be if the first one was that amazing!”

Neither Luke nor Alex answered but Reggie didn’t really care, he just kept talking about his favorite scenes. Luke completely drowned him out, focusing on the melody he had created in his head. Maybe if he changed the beat a little bit, it’d sound better.

Alex had started drumming his fingers against the ground, the rhythm fitting Luke’s melody perfectly.

He smiled. They could create music without even talking and that was definitely worth holding on to.

  


#### 2010

  


In complete awe Julie stared at the little boy lying in her mother’s lap.

They were in a hospital room filled with dozens of vases of dahlias and in the middle of it stood the bed with her mum in it.

And right there, was Julie’s little brother.

She had been so excited for this day when she would finally meet him. Sure, she had felt his little kicks against her mother’s stomach and had talked to him, sung and played for him but now he was here, with the littlest fingers Julie had ever seen.

Hers had never been that small, she was sure of it. She wouldn’t have been able to play the piano with fingers like this and she had always, always played the piano.

Carrie would be so jealous of Carlos, though. She wanted a little sibling ever since they had found out Julie would get one.

Carlos, Julie tried the sound of the name on her tongue. It fit the little guy that was snuggled against her mum’s chest.

“Come here, cari”, said Mum and patted the bed gently.

Julie climbed onto it, careful to not disturb her brother. He was still so little even though she was really close now. Slowly she touched his little fingers. His skin felt very soft and he crunched up his nose adorably.

“Can I sing for him?”

Her mum smiled before she nodded.

With a quiet voice Julie sang the song, her mum always sung to her before bedtime.

She was so busy with staring at her little brother, trying to figure out if he liked her singing, that she didn’t realize, she had made her parents start crying.

  


#### 2011

  


They were quiet. They had been for some time now.

Luke had closed his eyes, even though it didn’t really matter. It was dark nonetheless. His mind was eerily quiet, no lyrics or melodies running through it.

Instead, he saw the memory of running out on his mum again and again and again. It hurt every time, the regret inside his chest multiplying.

He had been there, hiding in the bushes so many times afterwards but never been able to swallow his pride and just admit that he missed her, missed them.

Maybe they had been right, maybe he had been too young to just leave home and start this journey. Maybe he wouldn’t have ended up in a dark room, unsure of where or what he was.

Reggie sighed next to him then and Alex turned a little, so that his shoulder touched Luke’s and then the front-man smiled.

He never would’ve ended up with these two guys if he hadn’t left. At least not in the same capacity. They were his family, one he had found completely on his own, one that accepted him exactly as he was, just like he accepted them. In sharing a dream, they had started sharing their lives and Luke wouldn’t change a thing.

The regret that had settled in his stomach, slowly started to dissipate little by little as he thought of all the wonderful memories he had.

Jamming in the garage, eating burgers after a successful show, fighting over the sandwiches at Annabeth’s book club and the endless nights of writing music together.

His smile grew bigger with every memory and when he started barking out a laugh, he sat up.

“Hey, do you remember that time Reggie almost broke his leg?”

It took his friends a moment to get caught up with his question. Then they both joined his laughter.

“Or that time we went looking for those rats, Alex had presumably seen in the garage?”

“And remember when we forgot Bobby after the show?”

Memory after memory spilled out of their mouths and by the end, Alex was crying of laughter.

  


#### 2012

  


Julie was playing on the piano while Carlos was playing with her old dolls on the rug. Rose had her feet on the coffee table, mindlessly strumming on the guitar.

She didn’t even realize she was humming along until Julie stood in front of her with her arms crossed.

“I like that song”, her daughter said.

Rose frowned, trying to remember what chords she had played.

Julie started singing the lyrics then and Rose got goosebumps.

“That’s a song from Uncle Trevor.”

She couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment they had stopped referring to Bobby by his real name. Probably around the time the girls had started speaking. Julie only knew Uncle Trevor.

Bobby seemed like a distant memory, just like the rest of his band.

“Can you play it again?” Julie asked.

Rose smiled. “How about I play the CD?”

She put in the record, pressing play. The first notes played and Julie was a goner. Completely mesmerized she stood in the middle of studio. Unconsciously she moved to the rhythm, bouncing up and down. Even Carlos seemed interested in the music, turning his head and watching his big sister.

Julie took her little brother’s hand, helping him stand and together they danced along to Bobby’s songs.

Rose watched them. Little did she know that for the next few weeks, Julie wouldn’t listen to anything but that CD of her Uncle Bobby. She would ask her mother a million questions and when she was tired of answering them, Julie would just ask her uncle. For the first time in years, Rose felt guilty again.

They should’ve credited the boys.

It was too late now, though.

  


#### 2013

  


Reggie had started humming a melody under his breath and while Luke was still looking for lyrics, Alex had joined with a rhythm.

Finally, Luke started to belt out the words that had formed in his head.

“Can you, 'a can you hear me?”, he sang.

“Loud and clear”, the boys answered.

“We gotta get, we gotta get ready, cause it's our year, whoa, this band is here.”

“Whoa, this band is here”, joined Alex and Reggie.

They continued for a while until they all started laughing.

“This feels good.” Luke could hear Reggie’s smile.

He agreed whole heartedly. It felt good to make music again even though no one apart from his two best friends could hear them. As long as they had each other and music, nothing really bad could happen to them.

  


#### 2014

  


Rose was sitting on the couch, reading a book to Carlos when Julie entered the living room. She hadn’t been in the house a lot this weekend and Rose looked up at her daughter.

“Where’s Dad?”

“Upstairs, finishing that video for tía.”

“You all have to be in the studio in ten minutes. I have something to show you!”

Without waiting for an answer Julie left as quickly as she had appeared.

Carlos looked at his mother expectantly. They finished the book before getting Ray from upstairs and walking down to the studio.

Three chairs were placed in front of the grand piano where Julie was sitting in her nicest dress. She had put on make-up as far as Rose could tell. Yeah, there was definitely some glitter around her eyes.

“Please take a seat”, Julie advised them.

Carlos sat between his parents and Julie waited for her little brother to get comfortable before she cleared her throat.

“I have something to show you”, she said with importance in her voice. Rose detected a hint of nervousness in the way her daughter held herself. “My first song.”

Ray smiled and Carlos immediately started clapping.

“No, you’re supposed to clap at the end!”, scolded Julie him half-heartedly.

“Oh, sorry.” Carlos quickly sat on his hands.

“Okay, um, I hope you like it.”

She looked at them one last time before she concentrated on the piano and started playing.

The melody was catchy, making Ray’s foot beat along and Rose’s chest filled with pride. Julie’s voice carried through the studio, filling every last inch of it and Carlos couldn’t sit still any longer, jumping up and down to his sister’s words.

When Julie finished, they all started cheering and clapping. Rose was the first to hug her daughter.

“That was absolutely beautiful, cari.”

“I tried to do it just like you”, Julie breathed out, the nervousness from before completely gone.

“And you did a fantastic job.”

Ray joined their hug and Carlos didn’t like feeling left out. The four of them swayed, laughing and singing Julie’s song again.

  


#### 2015

  


“Ugh, you know what I could go for right now?” asked Luke.

After nobody answered him, he continued, “Those little sandwiches they always had at Annabeth’s book club.”

Reggie hummed his approval.

“I swear to god, you only think with your stomach!”, cried Alex.

“Hey, not true!”

“Of course, it is. If it hadn’t been for your constant hunger, we wouldn’t be here right now!”

Luke jumped to his feet. “Nobody forced you to come with us!”

“Oh please, what was the other option? Watching Bobby try to score?”

“You could’ve joined him… oh wait, there’s the little detail of…”

“Luke!” Reggie interrupted him forcefully, shoving him.

Luke bit his lip, knowing he had messed up instantly.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right… I should’ve joined neither of you.” Alex’s voice carried the hurt.

“Alex, look, that, I am so sorry, I should never have said that! You know, I didn’t mean it…” Luke searched for the right words to apologize. “I… we always have and always will support you. You, you’re my best friend and just, I apologize for what I said. It was stupid and wrong.”

The following silence echoed through the darkness and Luke hated it. If he still had a heart beat it’d stutter. Biting his lip, he waited for Alex’ response.

“I accept your apology. And sorry for snapping.”

Luke breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you and I get it. I do think about food a lot.”

“Seriously, your priorities are so weird”, commented Reggie then, obviously trying to lighten the mood, “there’s music, then food and then there’s just nothing for a long, long time.”

“There’s you guys, right up there after music”, disagreed Luke.

“Wow, even before food. We are sooo honored!” Reggie’s laugh dispersed the heavy silence that had surrounded them.

  


#### 2016

  


They were loud.

Julie loved the afternoons she got to spent at Carrie’s house. Here they could be as loud as they wanted, no neighbors around them to complain about the noise and she and her best friend definitely liked their music turned up loud.

Carrie was banging on the drums, the rhythm of ‘Get Lost’ filling the studio. Julie started belting out the lyrics and they only stopped when Trevor entered the room, laughing.

“Can I join?”

“Sure, Daddy!” Carrie smiled.

Julie knew how much she missed her dad and that she loved making music with him as much as Julie loved to do it with her own mum.

Trevor picked up one of the guitars and looked at them. “What are we playing?”

“Julie wanted to do ‘Down the street’ next.”

Julie absolutely loved that song. It was the first one she had heard of her uncle and the one she had absolutely fallen in love with. Lovingly she often said it was the reason she fell in love with rock. Playing it with Trevor always felt that much more special. After all he had written it with his friend Dahlia.

Neither Carrie nor Julie really knew who that was, though, Julie would love to meet her. She had worked on Trevor’s biggest records and seemed to only do song writing.

“Are you girls ready?”

Getting dragged back to reality, Julie nodded eagerly.

They spent the rest of the day jamming in Trevor’s studio. When Mum picked her up, Julie’s cheeks were still red from jumping around that much and her voice was a little hoarse.

Carrie hugged her goodbye tightly and they promised to see each other in school the next day.  
Driving home, her mum turned on the radio and even though, they had played Trevor’s song all afternoon, Julie couldn’t help but sing along to ‘Down the street’ one last time with her mum.

  


#### 2017

  


“I am bored”, said Reggie.

Luke decided to ignore him and Alex seemed to do the same.

“Wanna talk about Star Wars?”

“No.”

“Wanna play a game?”

“No.”

“Wanna sing a song?”

“No.”

“Wanna- wait what?” Reggie gaped.

Luke sighed. “I’m not really in the mood.”

“Hold up! Don’t turn into a second Alex! No moping allowed!”

Reggie jumped to his feet. It took him two tries, to find Luke’s hands and grab them. He pulled the singer up.

“Okay, I won’t stand for this. Sing for me.”

“Reggie, seriously, I don’t…”

“Can you, 'a can you hear me?”

Luke grumbled, while he heard Alex shuffling at his feet.

“Can you, can you hear me?” Reggie sang louder and grabbed Luke’s shoulders.

“Loud and clear”, he finally answered.

“We gotta be, we gotta be ready!  
No more moping here  
Whoa, come sing with me”

“Whoa, come sing with me!”

Luke finally joined his friend and they both turned to Alex who was still sitting on the ground.

“Come on, Alexander!”

Reggie jumped on Luke’s back, who swayed for a moment but then held on tight.

“Can you, can you hear us?”, sang him and Reggie at the top of their lungs.

“Loud and clear”, mumbled Alex but finally pushed off the ground.

“We gotta be, wanna be, we gotta be ready  
No more moping here  
Whoa, this band’s still here  
Whoa, this band’s still here”

They screamed the song at the top of their lungs and by the time they were out of breath, Luke couldn’t help smiling.

  


#### 2018

  


The door slammed shut behind her and Julie let out the breath she had been holding. Carrie was ridiculous. Her mum would never do that.

Still, she couldn’t shake the things her best friend had said. That Julie’s mum tried to take credit away from Carrie’s dad for writing the songs that made him famous. That she called him a traitor and threatened to expose him to the world, taking away everything he loved. That they should have never started working together and that everything that happened so many years ago had been a big mistake.

Julie’s head was still reeling by the time she reached her front door. Then she stopped. Was Carrie even still her friend?

Tears started to build in her eyes and she quickly blinked them away. Breathing in and out, she opened the door. She was sure that there was a logical explanation to everything. One that didn’t make her mum out to be the villain in this story and didn’t imply, that maybe a long time ago Julie’s mum and Carrie’s dad had been in love and that that had been the reason Carrie’s mum had left. Julie was sure that was the most ridiculous thing of it all. Her mum and her dad had always loved each other.

The light in the kitchen was on, which was odd. Carlos and Dad were at her brother’s baseball practice and since almost a month, her mum had her weekly visits to a voice therapist because somehow her voice had started to sound a little off. Julie had realized it a few weeks ago and ever since then, her mum would only very rarely sing with her.

She’d rather listen to Julie playing.

“Is anybody home?” She called out.

Nobody answered.

“Hello?”

Again, no answer, but she heard something banging against the door of the first-floor bathroom. Picking up the candleholder from the cabinet next to the door, Julie slowly walked up the stairs.

Very carefully she opened the bathroom door. Julie had been prepared to see robbers, a poltergeist, everything else but the scene in front of her.

Her mum was crouching against the toilet, completely pale and there were tufts of hair on the bathroom tiles.

“Mum?” Her voice cracked and in that moment, the entire confrontation from this afternoon faded from Julie’s mind.

  


#### 2019

  


“What if nothing ever changes?” asked Alex out of the blue.

Luke wasn’t sure what his friend was talking about at first. Reggie seemed occupied with his own thoughts.

“We’ll get out of here. I’m sure.”

“But what comes after this?”

Alex sounded close to tears again.

“Is it heaven? Or is this it? Are we going to stay here, trying to cheer each other up for all eternity?”

“Whoa, stop spiraling! We haven’t even been here that long. It’s been what, an hour? Maybe two?” Luke tried to calm the drummer down.

“Yeah, maybe it’s like in that one movie and we aren’t even fully dead, just in a coma and are going to find the loves of our lives, so they can wake us.” Reggie clapped his hands. “Wouldn’t that be rad?”

“So rad!” Luke rolled his eyes. He had his music, no need for the love of his life, thank you very much, Reginald.

“Just, just think about it… we all reappear in a hospital room, looking at ourselves…”

“That sounds really creepy”, interrupted Alex.

Reggie ignored him. “And there are these two really pretty girls and one very dashing boy and they are super worried about us because…” He didn’t seem to come up with a good reason and Alex huffed while Luke impatiently started tapping his foot against the floor.

“Oh, come on! Try to be a little more romantic!”

“That flew out the window when I got rejected after my first kiss”, said Alex drily.

“Dude, I never knew!” Reggie gasped and Luke immediately felt sorry for the blond.

“It hurt at the time but… he wasn’t worth the tears I cried.”

Luke put his hand on Alex’ shoulder. “If we ever get out of here, I promise you, he’ll pay for it.”

“No, not worth it, believe me”, assured Alex them.

Luke still stored it away for later. Being a ghost had to be good for something, right? And haunting someone from their past seemed like as good a reason as any.

“Okay, but back to the story of our lives…”, said Reggie then and Luke joined Alex’ unnerved groan.

  


#### 2020

  


Julie had been pushing it in front of her for the entire day but Dad and Carlos would be back from baseball practice soon and she had promised her father to at least take a look around her mum’s old studio.

The walk from the house through the garden seemed to take an eternity and with every step her feet grew heavier.

Finally, she stopped in front of the white double-winged doors. Breathing in, she opened them for the first time in almost a year. A gust of wind seemed to come out the studio and Julie turned on the lights.

Nothing had changed since she had been in here last. Sure, there was the white cloth on the grand piano but apart from that she remembered it exactly like this. Somebody must’ve been taking care of her mother’s plants. Her money was on her aunt, because even though she always encouraged them to move on, Julie was sure that she tried to hold to her older sister in some way.

Carefully she took off the white cloth from the piano, touching it gingerly and when she found an old song from her mum on the chair, she couldn’t help herself.

Fighting back tears, she looked up. “I’m so sorry, Mum, that I haven’t been here.”

The studded strap of an electric guitar caught her eye then. She had never seen it before, even though she had spent every free minute in here growing up.

Slowly climbing up the ladder to the loft, she held her breath. There were all the instruments her father had talked about. They all looked in pretty good shape and strangely enough almost no dust had settled on them.

Julie looked around. It was as if seeing everything again for the first time. Finally, her eyes landed on a black and white CD. Carefully she picked it up, turning it around. It seemed to be a demo CD with only four songs on it.

Intrigued she put it into the player. It loaded for a moment then the music kicked off strong.  
Julie bobbed her head along with it, listening intently. This was good. It reminded her of the songs she used to sing with her mum.

A small smile stole itself on her lips, then the screaming started. At first, she thought it was coming from the CD-player but as it grew louder, it drowned out the music, forcing her to cover her ears.

And then, they landed in front of her.

##  ... the beginning.


End file.
